Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
As you leaf through its pages,you begin a journey that takes you back and forth,to the cities,towns and villages of Punjab…Sparkling Punjab,a coffee table book written by Vijay Singal,with photographs by Atul Bhardwaj,is a tribute to the glory,splendour,history,culture and traditions of Punjab and Punjabiyat.
With a foreword by Dharmendra,who describes the book as a pilgrimage through the length and breadth of this sacred land,for the author,talking about Punjab is like talking about himself. A former income tax commissioner of Mumbai,Vijay was born and brought up in Malerkotla and for him the 236-page book (Price Rs 3,600),which took him two years to write and was released today at the Press Club,is a homecoming of sorts,and a rather emotional one at that. The state has such a rich history and tradition and the effort here is to present the culture of Punjab in a vibrant and authentic way.
This is the first coffee table book on Punjab and I have strived to include the varied faces and moods of Punjab,be it its history,geography,art,craft,literature,dance,people,traditions,major events,freedom struggle,movements,womens role,development of cities et al, smiles Vijay,who has previously penned down a coffee table book Ganga: A Divinity in Flow.
A huge fan of the poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi,Vijay has included couplets from Batalvis poems which speak about the beauty and people of the land. Translated into English,the text includes boliyan of Sufi singers and poets and also talks about the rulers and famous people who were born in Punjab and its history. Through poetry,pictures and writing that comes straight from the heart,the effort has been to reach out to a wide section of people in India and abroad,with rural Punjab being one of the major highlights of the book, Vijay also writes on spirituality and believes this book is the story of his own people,their trials and tribulations,their beauty and grace.
The pictures say a thousand words,as Delhi-based photographer and journalist Atul Bhardwaj captures the moments and feelings in his vibrant photographs,as he did the last time for Ganga…this book was tougher,for I had to travel extensively for two years and capture people in different moods and also places that are of social,historical and religious importance, from the farms to the life in villages,the roadside barber shops to the colourful trucks of Punjab,the Golden Temple,shrines,love stories,rivers,beautiful women,celebrations,dhabhas,the glitz and glamour of Ludhiana,Chandigarhs Open Hand…its all here to view. The idea,adds Atul is to do work that has not been attempted before,and hes already on a look-out for a new subject. Not just the places,the people of Punjab are so beautiful. Complete strangers opened their hearts and homes to me and it was in Malwa that I saw and felt the purana Punjab…in spite of all the progress,its so rooted, reflects Atul…And the Punjabi attitude,adds Vijay,can be summed up with Khadda peeta lahey da…Baki Ahmed Shahey da… Whatever we eat and drink is all we have. The rest would be taked away by Ahmed Shah.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
